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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/29629368">Guardian</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Writerperson78/pseuds/Writerperson78'>Writerperson78</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>King of Fighters</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Conversations, Established Relationship, F/M, XI was pretty hard on rose with the mind control stuff</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-02-22</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-02-22</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-15 18:54:26</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,619</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/29629368</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Writerperson78/pseuds/Writerperson78</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Short one-shot. Whip runs into a muddled Rose in the hallway of the Sky Noah during a visit. Just how badly does that mysterious group have its influence on her, and can they figure out what's wrong?</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Adelheid Bernstein/Seirah | Whip</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Guardian</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Having just gotten back from the Sky Noah’s gym for some working out-the two of them had been down there together, as they would-Whip was making her way down the hall of the third floor when she heard an odd sound. </p><p>Adelheid had decided to raid the kitchen himself since the servants were out and about, and he didn’t feel like waiting. He was planning on bringing up a fairly large tray of stuff for the two of them; he may have already been up there, so she went to go see what it was.</p><p>She saw Rose in the hallway, holding her head. Gwan twirled around her legs, pawing slightly at the hem of her dress and looking somewhat confused. He opened his mouth, and out came one his little, screechy attempts at a roar that he would try from time to time. </p><p>“R...Rose?” she asked, hesitatingly. </p><p>Ever since the incident some months back, it was understandable she did not approach Adelheid’s sister much, despite how close-nay, <em> bonded, </em> Whip was with her brother. She knew Adelheid met regularly with her, and they were cordial again-which she was happy for-but there was something definitely wrong. The malice from that night seemed gone, but she was very distant and sometimes muddled. She knew that Adelheid was frustrated, but his hands were tied. Pushing did nothing, asking did nothing, and they were unable to find out much more about the mysterious group who they had a feeling was influencing her, who were seemingly not even there at the moment. Any attempts at trailing them would come up empty. </p><p>She knew the commander was frustrated, as well, but nothing could be done but continuing their investigation, as well as plenty of other things they had to deal with at the moment. </p><p>Rose looked up at her, slightly confused. “S...Seirah?” she asked. She rarely used her real name with Whip, though she knew it, of course. There was no malice in her eyes, only confusion. </p><p>Whip held her arm up to steady her. “Are you okay?” </p><p>“Y...Yes,” she said. “Got dizzy for a moment. I’m not sure why.” Gwan, during this, twirled around Whip’s legs as well, liking her quite a bit, though seemed to be upset that he couldn’t get his usual ear scritches. </p><p>She quickly grabbed her phone, sending a message to Adelheid. <em> “Rose is here. Confused. Come to the third floor, </em>” it read. She knew he would be here quickly. While they were more distant than usual-especially after the strange things started happening-he did, still, deeply care for his little sister. They always had their ups and downs, and she was always the more ruthless of the two, and he didn’t like being sent to kill people he had no qualms with, the more vicious underworld denizens aside...but she was still his family. He would still defend her.</p><p>Sure enough, he came running down half dressed; he had been relaxing in the room at the moment, having brought up the snacks. Squeezing Whip’s hand, he took Rose’s other arm. </p><p>“Rose! Are you alright?” he asked, checking her out as Whip stood next to her on the other side. </p><p>“Brother,” she said. “I...think so. Dizzy. My memories seem strange.” </p><p>“What do you mean?”</p><p>She managed to steady herself, though both he and Whip still had her arms. “I remember basically what we did. And what I did. But then more distant memories get fuzzy. And then my head feels heavy,” she said, looking at them both. </p><p>He nodded. “I...don’t know what’s causing it. But are you sure you want to keep meeting with some of those people?”</p><p>“No one different has come in for months,” she said. “No one that you didn’t know, either.” She looked a little unsure at her own words. </p><p>He blinked, looking at Whip. She nodded; knowing that they would probably be reporting some things to Heidern again, and soon. “Do you feel alright now?” </p><p>“I could rest,” she said. “Tea, perhaps, would be nice, too.” </p><p>“I’ll tell Henrik,” he said. “Let’s get you to your room.” </p><p>The three-followed by Gwan-made their way to her lavish quarters. While she had peered in a few times since the months she had been visiting the Sky Noah, this was the first time Whip had been inside proper; up on the highest floor, they were as large as Adelheids, though much, much more decorated. Where Adelheid preferred his to look more clean and spartan-with some clutter even here and there, usually some clothes or boots around, or the odd papers, as he was not overly meticulous-Rose’s were about perfect. </p><p>She sat-able to walk herself now, and waited as Adelheid let Henrik know to bring her a cart with some of her favorites on it. Black tea, some of her favorite sweet biscuits. She had wine to choose from in her room if she wanted. He knelt next to her, checking her eyes. They seemed clear, though distant again. </p><p>“Will you be alright?” he asked. </p><p>“Yes,” she said. She looked at Whip for a moment. “T...thank you,” she said, smiling softly. “You didn’t have to.”</p><p>She smiled back at her. “It’s okay. You needed help.” </p><p>Rose nodded, looking between her and her brother, smiling softly again. “I’ll be alright. I think I need to clear my head some, anyway.” Gwan purred, wrapping around the three of their legs, one right after the other. </p><p>“Just call if you need something,” Adelheid said, patting her shoulder for a moment. “If you remember anything-<em> anything </em> at all-tell me, okay?”</p><p>“I will. I...wish I did.”</p><p>“If he’s not around...you can tell me, too,” Whip added. </p><p>“Th...thank you,” Rose said, shaking her head. She smiled up at her.</p><p>Hugging her for a moment, Adelheid stood-both he and Whip adding some scritches to Gwan before the young panther got actively offended at them-and headed out of the room, shutting the door behind them. He nodded at Henrik as he walked by, pushing the cart. While they had many servants, Henrik usually handled the personal deliveries for the two.</p><p>Adelheid scratched his head with one hand, sighing. Whip took his other, locking fingers with him as they made their way back to his room. </p><p>“I wish we knew,” he finally said, dropping into one of the large, plush recliners that were in his quarters. “We’ve looked and looked. I know you guys have, too. But after we found those initial leads-and those few names-they dried up. Disappeared. It’s frustrating,” he grumbled, making a fist. “I’m supposed to be able to take care of her, you know? Differences aside-and we have had our fair share…”</p><p>“I know,” she said, stroking his hair back. It seemed that distant, horrible night was a memory; she knew now that it was not Rose’s fault. While Rose had, in the past, driven her brother berserk enough to kill enemies, she had a distinct feeling that night had not been all her. Adelheid had told her numerous times that as bad as she got-she never had gotten that bad, that she would turn him on people he cared about, or was friends with. “You are such a good brother to her,” she added. “I wish I could be so close with mine.” </p><p>He looked up at her, smiling sadly. “I...was glad to see how she acted toward you,” he said. “She has always been a bit jealous...she hadn’t had many people either. Some rich friends of course that she would see. More than I had. But still. It feels like she’s...in there. The little sister I grew up with.” He shook his head. “It’s just so <em> hard </em> to get through to her some days...she’s way more distant. I just want my little sister back to normal.”</p><p>“I hope we can figure it out soon,” she said, kissing him softly several times; he returned them, as it deepened a few moments before they separated again. “I’d...like to get to know her.”</p><p>“Thank you,” replied Adel, resting his head on her chest as she stood next to him. “She-the real her-she would like you.”</p><p>She slid her hands around his head, stroking his hair as she would.</p><p>He looked back up at her. “And you’re good too,” he added. “To your brother. I saw how you guys acted at the party.” He didn’t like her being too hard on herself for no reason.</p><p>She chuckled at that, kissing the top of his head. “Maybe,” she replied. “What do you want to do for dinner tonight, by the way?”</p><p>He thought. “Maybe just stay around here? I want to make sure everything’s okay.”</p><p>“I was thinking the same,” she said. “I sort of want to be lazy tonight, anyway.” Sneaking one more kiss, she moved to go get one of the books she had been reading from his shelf to go curl up in the bed. </p><p>He smiled over at her as she moved to the bed; he felt incredibly content. Still, he felt like there was something on the horizon that he was going to have to deal with. What that was...or how, he wasn’t sure. </p><p>Sighing, he went back to his contacts, trying to find a lead still. Sending another message to Heidern, he let him know about Rose, and if his agents had discovered anything their on that end, in regards to the strange group. </p><p>Adelheid did not often get overwhelmed, but he certainly started to feel it now, between having to deal with whatever was inside of him, the situation with the strange group and his sister, and finding out what had gone wrong that one night.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>I wanted to get a little bit of mix in with Adel’s family there. </p><p>Those from the Past, if you recall, can come and go via various gates. Which means they can basically come and go from the plane at will...this is why they are so hard to find, but we don’t discover this until later on in the story. At this point in time, the crew wouldn’t know why they are unable to find them. </p><p>I wanted to show that there was still some of her in there; that the Rose that went completely hostile during Etude of Revolution was not truly her. Yes, she is fairly ruthless to her enemies, and she had certainly driven her brother mad with her music a few times to get what she needed...but never to the point of that horrible night.</p></blockquote></div></div>
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